Causation - criminal law., Lecture notes of Law

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2/22/25, 9:39 PM about:blank Causation - criminal law Week one notes- General Principles: actus reus Herring textbook notes — chapters 3 and 4 Chapter 3 = the external elements __ When is there a duty to act? 1. Statutory duties — for example section7(6) of the Road Traffic Act ye = 1972 makes it a criminal offence to fail to supply a specimen of breath when required to do so Contractual duties — Pittwood railway crossing keeper Assumption of responsibility ~ a blood relationship or may also be inferred where the accused has undertaken to care for another person ~ Stone and Dobinson Creation of danger — duty to act is found where the defendant has created a dangerous situation and then failed to prevent harm occurring as a result ~ Miller. The duty arises out of the creation, albeit unintentional, of a dangerous situation which is likely to cause damage . Other cases — courts may be willing to find novel situations in which there is a duty to act; Speck 1977 where the law found he ‘was under a duty to remove the girl’s hand and his failure to do so could be classified as indecent assault For someone to be liable for a crime as a result of a breach of a duty it must be shown that the omission caused the harm If the jury decide that the victim would have died even if the defendant had tried to rescue her in accordance with the duty, the defendant will not be said to have caused the victim’s death mmissions an Lord Diplock said in Miller, itis the use of the expression ‘actus reus’ that is liable to mislead, since it suggests that some positive act on the part of the accused is needed to make him guilty of a crime Voluntary nature of the actus reus If the actus reus does require a positive action it is seen as a fundamental principle that such an action must be willed or voluntary; in other words, the defendant was capable of controlling their behaviour when they acted Itis for this reason that there is no criminal liability for accidental behaviour; in such cases there is no mens rea, but the law goes further and says there is no actus reus either Automatism 1/21